The shiny purple invitation for Giorgio Armani’s fall Privé couture present was no purple herring, foreshadowing a group that took most of its cues from roses — and likewise lacquer bins from the Far East.
The 2 motifs arrived regularly, as fashions in silky, tapered trousers tread a checkerboard runway, first in slim brocade jackets and densely beaded shirts and tunics.
If quiet luxurious has been the undercurrent of this couture season, reflecting a extra downbeat temper taking maintain on the planet, then Armani didn’t get the memo, preferring lustrous materials, dense decorations and many crystals and beadwork.
His sparkly trousers are positive to be successful, providing a straightforward solution to costume up for night. Some got here veiled in a second pair of sparkly pants, the hems picked out in small crystals. Stovepipe pants in metallic brocades strode in as a extra subdued possibility.
The season has been mild on new tailoring concepts, and so Armani’s swallowtail coats, with their rounded, barely built-up sleeve heads, caught the attention. Principally, he most well-liked pure shoulders, making a pleasingly slim silhouette.
The roses arrived slowly at first, as a material flourish punctuating a tailor-made ensemble, or a substitute for a steel buckle or jewel on a night shoe.
Finally, the purple flower grew to become a dominant motif, bringing to thoughts a latest Chanel assortment hinged closely on the camellia.
In fact, Armani cultivated the flower theme his approach, utilizing rose blooms as 3D gildings clustered on shoulders, or scattered on flaring night robes.
A preponderance of black and gold, and a few pagoda embroideries, made one consider lacquered bins. The press notes, distributed after the present, described “a journey from west to east via elongated silhouettes,” with “hints of different worlds and cultures.”
Whereas the present typically felt like a cake with an excessive amount of ornamental frosting, or an overgrown rose backyard, there have been at the least a number of dozen long-stemmed beauties.
